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Nokia CEO replaced with former Microsoft executive

Randall Arnold was one of the first in the community to break the news that Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (usually known by his initials, OPK) was stepping down from the helm of Nokia to make room for Stephen Elop, moving in from Microsoft. Elop was previously running the Microsoft Business Division; after senior positions at Adobe and Macromedia. Randy notes that OPK's head has been on the block for a while, and thateven if Nokia's struggles the past few years were not his fault, directly or indirectly, it's an unfortunate fact of the fast-paced business world that stockholders often need a sacrificial lamb in order to regain confidence. CEOs, right or wrong, make the most obvious target.Numerous analysts have said that fixing the platform, and attracting developers will have to be his #1 priority. It's unclear whether the dual-approach of Symbian & Maemo/MeeGo Nokia have been following under OPK will be seen as an unncessary cost and duplication when there are alternative "off-the-shelf" OSes such as Android, or even Windows Mobile 7, available to license. New CEOs rarely trigger immediate shifts in focus and tactical operations; his impact will be felt in the middle of next year (at the earliest), meaning that the first MeeGo-oriented devices from Nokia are unlikely to be affected.

Rumours that Microsoft encouraged him to take up the CEOship at Nokia to drive the final nails in the coffin, whilst simultaneously letting OPK move to Apple (or Google); have no truth. This is, almost certainly, not part of a Machiavellian plan to get Windows Mobile some success in the market place.

* Attila CsipaVoting opens this Thursday: 16th September. The council acts as a bridge between Nokia's community efforts and engagement and the Maemo enthusiast, power-user and developer community. As well as helping to provide focused leadership for the community, oversight of the paid maemo.org team, and facilitation of community activity.